“She’s in there doing what she can,” said former National Enquirer gossip columnist turned PR professional R. Couri Hay, a longtime Trump booster. “It’s unrealistic, unfair and cruel to expect her to change climate policy and pre-K and women’s issues in six months.”

Now, with her father’s presidency in disarray and the tide of public opinion rising ever higher against the family that has positioned itself at the very top of the U.S. government, Ivanka Trump is trying to resize expectations.

“She has told allies that she wants to be held accountable solely on those issues she is actively working on,” Politico said, rather than being shamed for her inability to stop her father from making reckless moves and saying — and tweeting — things that undermine his administration.

“Allies have bucked up her spirits by telling her that her legacy will look better in hindsight if she is successful in moving the needle on her stated issues,” Politico said. “And as she navigates the unique role of working-daughter-in-the-White House, she is reading Eleanor Roosevelt’s biography for guidance and inspiration.”

So be prepared for scorched-earth politics from the Oval Office, including more savage verbal attacks on Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, more baseless charges of voter fraud in the 2016 election, more specific threats to fire special counsel Robert Mueller, and further escalation of the culture wars.

Most Americans won’t be swayed by these pyrotechnics because they’ve become inured to our unhinged president.

But that’s not the point. The rantings are intended to shore up Trump’s “base” – the third of the country that continues to support him, who still believe they’re “victims” of Obamacare, who are willing to believe Trump himself is the victim of a liberal conspiracy to unseat him.

Trump wants his base to become increasingly angry and politically mobilized so they’ll continue to exert an outsized influence on the Republican Party.

"Every month we outraise the Democrats puts us ahead of the curve and ensures we have the resources to cut through the noise of the FAKE NEWS MEDIA and fight back against the left-wing elites trying to bring down our agenda,” one of the emails, sent on July 31, read.

Another informed Trump supporters: "This month (just like every month since the election) Democrats are doing everything in their power to obstruct our AMERICA FIRST agenda."

"But here on Team Trump, since 2017 began, we’ve been PROVING that the American people are behind our President. Our fundraising numbers are unbeatable, Friend, and we want to keep winning with your help,” it added.

Several emails sent out to supporters highlighted the president’s ongoing battle with the media, as well as his failure to repeal Obamacare; laying the blame firmly at the feet of Democrats despite GOP senators failing to give Trump the numbers he needed to see the Senate healthcare bill pass.

"We know the American people are behind President Trump," the email read. "However, obstructionist liberals in the Senate are going AGAINST the voices of their own people in order to bring down the President and protect the FAILING ObamaCare."

In his (Reince Priebus) place is John Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general and respected disciplinarian whose mandate is to succeed where Priebus failed: imposing order and organization on a chaotic White House. Kelly, however, is not a political figure; he did not support (or oppose) Trump’s campaign, and is not known to hold strong political or ideological inclinations. Looking around Trump’s inner circle, there is communications director Anthony Scaramucci, a political novice who in the past donated to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton; chief strategist Steve Bannon, who used Breitbart to try and burn the Republican Party to the ground; National Economic Council director Gary Cohn, a lifelong Democrat; director of strategic communication Hope Hicks, who has zero history with GOP politics; and Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, a pair of self-professed Manhattan progressives. Of Trump’s closest advisers, only Mike Pence has any association with the Republican Party.

This no longer seems accidental. Trump has, since taking office, consistently referred to Republicans as though he is not one himself—it's invariably “they” or “them.” Unlike past presidents of his party, Trump entered the White House with few personal relationships with prominent Republicans: donors, lobbyists, party activists, politicians. This liberated him to say whatever he pleased as a candidate, and, by firing Priebus, Trump might feel similarly liberated. The fear now, among Republicans in his administration and on Capitol Hill, is that Trump will turn against the party, waging rhetorical warfare against a straw-man GOP whom he blames for the legislative failures and swamp-stained inertia that has bedeviled his young presidency. It would represent a new, harsher type of triangulation, turning his base against the politicians of his own party that they elected.

Things have not yet escalated to that point. But some, including officials in his own administration, took the dismissal of Priebus as a signal that Trump is willing to go rogue against the GOP. Only a day after announcing Kelly as his new chief of staff, the president let loose on Twitter, calling out Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for not changing the Senate’s filibuster rules and saying Republicans “look like fools” for not doing so. He also tweeted that Democrats are “laughing at” the GOP. In a final taunt, Trump tweeted that Republican senators would be “total quitters” if they move on from health care following last week’s failed repeal vote.

More and more, Trump talks as though there are Democrats and Republicans—and him, a party of one. If unchecked, this poses an existential threat to the GOP. But it’s not Priebus’ problem anymore. He is officially unemployed. And with a few weeks of summer vacation remaining, chances are that he—along with his wife and two young children—will soon be on an airplane, heading someplace where no reporter will be waiting to ask him about Donald Trump.

President Trump and Republicans in Washington have shaken the confidence of their supporters after a punishing and self-inflicted series of setbacks that have angered activists, left allies slack-jawed and reopened old fissures on the right.

A seemingly endless sequence of disappointments and blunders has rattled Mr. Trump’s volatile governing coalition, like Mr. Trump’s attacks on Attorney General Jeff Sessions; a vulgar tirade by his new communications chief, Anthony Scaramucci; and the collapse of conservative-backed health care legislation.

Mr. Trump remains overwhelmingly popular with Republicans, but among party loyalists and pro-Trump activists around the country, there are new doubts about the tactics he has employed, the team he has assembled and the fate of the populist, “drain the swamp” agenda he promised to deliver in partnership with a Republican-controlled Congress.

“There is a significant amount of justified frustration, particularly with the Senate,” said Robin Hayes, the chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, alluding to the health care defeat. “I don’t want to use any Scaramucci language this morning, but it’s their inability to function as a team, to work together and come up with a responsible win.”

While on a trip to smooth over relationships with NATO allies in Eastern Europe, Pence told Fox News

“The president has made it very clear that Russia’s destabilizing activities and support for rogue regimes and its activities in Ukraine are unacceptable. The president made it clear that very soon he will sign sanctions from the Congress to reinforce that,” Pence said.

The interview took place long after the Kremlin announced that 755 US diplomats must leave Russia.

“But at the same time as we make our intentions clear that we expect Russian behavior to change, the president and I remain very hopeful that we’ll see very different behavior from the Russian government,” he continued.

“Kellyanne, you’ve got to allow me to ask some questions,” the Fox host told her as she continued to talk. “This week the president continued to attack his attorney general… Does the president want Jeff Sessions to continue as attorney general or — as has been suggested — is he considering him moving over to replace General Kelly as the secretary of homeland security?”

“That’s a personnel question that only the president can answer,” Conway opined before pivoting to the president’s campaign against “vile groups” of undocumented immigrants. “These MS-13 gangs are murdering innocent Americans and bringing drugs and violence into our communities.”

“The question is, is he considering moving (Sessions to homeland security) if the immigration part of this is so important?” Wallace asked.

“I won’t comment on that but I will tell you that that the president has expressed frustration about [Sessions recusing himself from the Russia investigation],” Conway admitted. “And look at what’s happened with this ridiculous Russian collusion delusion. You see all these journalists, who built entire TV sets and lower-thirds and screaming graphics and breathless coverage, now slinking away this week, Chris, from the Russian collusion coverage. Why? Because you have everyone, from Jared Kushner meeting with the House and the Senate and giving his public statement.”

“You have no ‘there’ there whatsoever,” she continued. “We were promised the next Watergate, we don’t even have water polo. We don’t have watermelon. It’s so ridiculous and the only thing I can see happening with Russia right now is this FusionGPS matter (allegedly connected to Hillary Clinton), the Senate witness who said everybody should go look over there at what’s happened. Somebody being paid by the Russians to compile a damaging dossier on Donald Trump. Again, filled with falsities and lies.”

According to Ryan, Republicans are trying to fund President Donald Trump’s border wall while lowering tax rates, which is expected to be a windfall for wealthy Americans.

“Getting consensus from the White House, the House and the Senate makes it much more of a viable enterprise,” the Speaker opined. “I feel much more confident that we’re going to stick the landing on tax reform because we have now said, ‘We have consensus, here’s the framework, let’s go get it done.'”

“Good news,” the Fox host replied.

Ryan explained that GOP lawmakers would use “dynamic scoring” to offset the cost of tax cuts with uncertain revenue from anticipated future growth.

“What that means is that we can have a big tax cut, but also make sure we are in compliance with our deficit targets,” he opined, noting that additional revenue could come from cutting programs like welfare.